The importance of not overloading yourself with work cannot be overstated enough. I think it’s a great idea to seek opportunity wherever you can for sure, but make sure that the amount of work you take on is something that you can adjust to comfortably.

I have made the mistake of biting off more than I can chew in terms of acquiring work, and applied to and acquired multiple jobs. I found myself rushing to beat the clock at every waking moment to try and balance school, work, and my social life, and often times I was losing.

Not only was I sorely failing at multi-tasking, but I was hammering away at my body in the process. I was losing sleep over trying to complete responsibilities from the day before, and honestly, things were taking a toll on my body. I woke up with huge bags under my eyes every morning and was trying to fight back the urge to fall asleep everywhere I went. I realized I needed to change something up.

For one, I needed to lighten my load to something that was much more manageable.

I looked at my schedule and realized that my dog walking job took up a huge chunk of my day and my flexibility, and more than once it has caused me to have to go out of my way in order to complete homework and manage my social life. That was the first thing I dropped.

The next thing I needed to take care of was drop a class that wasn’t necessary for me to graduate but was causing me to lose a lot of sleep. It was a class that was unnecessarily difficult and required a lot of time outside class, and was about a subject I didn’t actually need to take to graduate, so I dropped it at no penalty before the drop date.

Once I dealt with these two things, I found myself having time to do my homework again, take time to have a social life around campus, and continue to maintain my current job at the DePaul Telefund which is super flexible and which I love. The extra focus I can have on schoolwork is a sure plus. Clearly, the mistake I made was saying yes to everything before I considered if I could actually handle it, but I think it’s important to organize your time to make sure this does not happen to you as well.